Scrabble

Battell Center games bring out the competitive and social

Battell Center games bring out the competitive and social

February 16, 2006|LAUREEN FAGAN Tribune Staff Writer

A little bit of spelling, a little bit of gamesmanship, and a whole lot of socializing -- that's what Friday morning Scrabble at the Battell Center offers to the ladies who come. "I came after I retired and had time," said Marguerite Williams, 82, of Mishawaka, who left the computing center at University of Notre Dame in 1994. She found some players who'd been at it for years. Clodine Hamilton, 75, of Mishawaka, and Norma Howard, 83, also of Mishawaka, have been coming since 1988. They retired from Uniroyal at about the same time in the late 1970s, they said. "We have five regulars at this table," Hamilton said. "But they don't always come." Hamilton took a quick look at the board, eyeing the score. "We have some good stuff out here," Hamilton said. "The J and the Z, we hit them on doubles," she added, referring to the Scrabble scoring system that awards higher points for difficult letters, especially when played on double and triple scores. "My parents started to play Scrabble when it first came out," Norma Howard said. "I was still in high school." Hamilton, too. "I played Scrabble ever since I was knee-high to a grasshopper," she explained. At another table, Donna Dobrodt, 71, of Mishawaka, explained how much she enjoys the companionship. "It's something to do and good fellowship," she said, fingering the small tiles lined up near the board. "I come because I like to learn new words," she said. Dobrodt agreed. "It keeps the mind active." As Houghton flipped through her dictionary, trying unsuccessfully to find a way out of a difficult set of letters, Dona Clark patted the one next to her desk. "I'm proud of this dictionary because I got it on sale," said the 63-year-old Mishawaka resident, who saved $10 when she picked hers up at Borders. And at their table, talk runs to shopping, grandchildren, recipes and crafts. "We play 'til we're tired," Clark said. "And then we talk 'til we're tired, too." Staff writer Laureen Fagan: lfagan@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6344